A posting of my weekend homilies, and others. Recently, there have been problems listening to my podcasts if you are using the *Chrome browser*. If you have tried and not been able to hear the message, try a different browser. If you missed an earlier homily, contact me, I probably still have the file. I welcome your comments: fejindra@gmail.com

I have only translated a few of the more important paragraphs from this Holy Thursday. I trust this will be okay as we try doing this Triduum bilingually.
Sólo he traducido algunos de los párrafos más importantes de este Jueves Santo. Confío en que esto estará bien cuando intentemos hacer este Triduo bilingüalmente.
It is amazing to me that there are still people who want to insist, in their “modern biblical interpretations”, that there is a problem in the Gospels in regards to the night before Jesus died. Because John does not have a “Last Supper”, they want to try to dismiss either the Gospel of John or the entire report of the Gospels on the life of Jesus.
At the risk of sounding harsh, that is just plain stupid. Now, I know it takes a lot to try to explain why the differences are there. The primary point of difference in the Gospel of John is that John writes Jesus’ death as taking place at the same time as the lambs are being slaughtered for the Passover in the temple.
To hear more that, you have to come back tomorrow night. Now, I want to focus on one word that occurs in both the Old Testament and the New Testament readings. That word is also contested among Christians: “remembrance”.
In the other three Gospels, the Last Supper scene includes the word remembrance as well. Every Mass, we use that word. It is part of the words quoted from Jesus and is in the words of consecration at each Mass.
What are we remembering? First, we are remembering the sacrifice of Jesus. Second we are remembering the sacrifice of the lambs in Egypt. Third we are remembering that Jesus said “do this…” Let’s take a look at each of these three.
The sacrifice of Jesus was done to bring about our salvation. To restore us to our original innocence that existed in Adam and Eve, and in the Virgin Mary. That original innocence cannot fully be restored because we have the wound of sin on our souls. Yet God’s plan was, through Jesus, to give us a way to be restored in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. Because of what Jesus did in his sacrifice, and our subsequent Baptism, we have been given the indelible mark of salvation on our souls. This destroys the consequences of original sin and we are left with only an inclination to sin, not a full and total emptiness of grace. I know, there is much more that could be set in this area. But I want to move on.
Second we are remembering the sacrifice of the lambs in Egypt. Remember, John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God. Also remember that John the Evangelist has Jesus dying at the same time as the lambs for the Passover were being slaughtered in the temple. (I know, I said wait until tomorrow for a further description of John’s Gospel, but I had to say this much.) The blood of the lambs in Egypt was spread on the door posts – made of wood – and the angel of death passed by the homes of the Hebrews. The blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, was poured out completely and finally on the wood of the cross.
Now, this is among the most important aspects: the members of the household protected by the blood of the Lamb had to eat the Lamb. If they did not participate in the meal, they were not part of the Hebrew people and their covenant with God.
So, now we turn to point three: Jesus said “do this in remembrance of me”. Paul repeats this in our reading from Corinthians. This points out that the Eucharist, even as we are participating in it now, was known to the very earliest of the Christian communities. It is wrong for other Christian groups to dismiss the reality that the body and blood of Jesus is real. So many of them try to use the word “remembrance” to dismiss the reality, saying that is just something that they do to remember what Jesus did.
They fail to focus on the full meaning of the Scriptures! They do not understand the implications of the sacrificial lamb that goes all the way from the Passover in Egypt through every year of Jewish history, to the time of Jesus, with the celebration of the Passover.
Los cristianos no católicos no se centran en el significado completo de las escrituras! No comprenden las implicaciones del cordero sacrificial que va desde la Pascua en Egipto a través de cada año de la historia judía, hasta la época de Jesús, con la celebración de la Pascua.
This is the fullness not just of God’s revelation, but the fullness of our faith! The sacrifice of the lambs in Egypt, and the meal connected with it, point to the Eucharist. Now, after Jesus death and resurrection, how was he to project his body and blood into the future for the sake of the church? The answer to this question is beautifully fulfilled in the simplicity, and complexity, of the Eucharist.
¡ Esta es la plenitud no sólo de la revelación de Dios, sino de la plenitud de nuestra fe! El sacrificio de los corderos en Egipto, y la comida relacionada con él, apuntan a la Eucaristía. Ahora, después de la muerte y resurrección de Jesús, ¿cómo iba a proyectar su cuerpo y sangre en el futuro por el bien de la iglesia? La respuesta a esta pregunta se ha cumplido hermosamente en la sencillez y en la complejidad de la Eucaristía.
Here on Holy Thursday, in this evening Mass, we commemorate, or remember, or have a remembrance of what Jesus called us to at the Last Supper. He gave his apostles the authority and responsibility of continuing our Passover in every Mass. This is what we are here tonight to do. This night we remember not just the sacrifice of Jesus, but the institution of the Eucharist.
Aquí el Jueves Santo, en esta misa de la tarde, conmemoramos, o recordamos, o tenemos un recuerdo de lo que Jesús nos llamó a la última cena. Él dio a sus apóstoles la autoridad y la responsabilidad de continuar nuestra Pascua en cada Misa. Esto es lo que estamos aquí esta noche para hacer. Esta noche recordamos no sólo el sacrificio de Jesús, sino la institución de la Eucaristía.
As I remember this, I am humbled that God should have chosen me to be a priest. The Sacred Triduum: this celebration, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil are a poignant reminder of what Jesus did, what he calls me to do, and what he calls you to do.
Al recordar esto, me siento humilde porque Dios debería haberme escogido para ser sacerdote. El Triduo sagrado: esta celebración, el Viernes Santo y la Vigilia Pascual son un recordatorio conmovedor de lo que hizo Jesús, de lo que él me llama a hacer y de lo que él te llama a hacer.